UB Institutional Repository (UBIR) Collection Development Policy

The UB Institutional Repository (UBIR) is an open platform that provides long-term access to the scholarly works of UB faculty, staff and students. By making these works available to anyone with internet access, UBIR supports the university’s mission to create and share knowledge.

Who May Contribute

  • Current UB faculty, staff and students may contribute to UBIR.

Collection Scope

UBIR accepts complete scholarly works that are ready for distribution, including:

  • journal articles and book chapters
  • conference papers and presentations
  • technical reports
  • books and monographs
  • audio and video recordings
  • research posters, research papers and other gray literature
  • theses and dissertations, according to The Graduate School’s policy:

Affirmation of Public Access

Submission of a thesis or dissertation to the Graduate School is the last step in many academic programs leading to the award of a graduate degree. The manuscript is a scholarly presentation of the results of the graduate student’s research and/or creative work. The University at Buffalo requires that research and scholarly work conducted by graduate students and incorporated into theses and dissertations be made publicly available through the University at Buffalo’s institutional repository (UBIR). The University at Buffalo’s Graduate School hereby affirms the principle that graduate students have a responsibility to share their work with scholars in all disciplines and the general public, and stands by the university’s commitment to ensuring public access to master’s theses and doctoral dissertations. The policy of the University at Buffalo is that graduate students own the copyright to their original works of authorship. The license granted to UB as required by the Public Access of Theses and Dissertations policy is fully consistent with university copyright policy.

Public Access

As one of the requirements for conferral of a degree, a graduate student must submit their thesis or dissertation to UB through the ETD Administrator website. Approximately three months afterward, the manuscript is made available for viewing through ProQuest's dissertations and theses database as well as the UBIR. Requests for delayed public access through either ProQuest or the UBIR must adhere to the Graduate School’s Embargo (Delayed Release) of Thesis and Dissertation policy.

Upon submission of their thesis or dissertation as a requirement for conferral of the degree, the graduate student shall grant a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual license to the University at Buffalo/SUNY as set forth in the University at Buffalo Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Reproduction and Public Access Agreement form.

Author Warranties

Upon submitting the thesis or dissertation as a requirement for conferral of a degree, the graduate student shall affirm that the work: (a) is the graduate student’s original work and that they have full power to enter into an agreement; (b) does not infringe copyright, intellectual property rights, or privacy rights of another; (c) contains no material that is libelous, defamatory or other unlawful material; and (d) the graduate student has not made, and will not hereafter make, any contract or commitment contrary to the terms of the agreement with UB or in derogation of the license granted to the university hereunder. The graduate student shall indemnify, defend and hold the university harmless from any losses, claims, damages, awards, penalties or injuries incurred, including reasonable attorney's fees, which arise from any claim by any third party of an alleged infringement of copyright or any other property right arising out of the access and use of the work.

UBIR does not accept:

  • datasets
  • works in progress
  • materials protected by HIPAA

For assistance with data management and sharing, visit the UB Libraries’ Research Data Services website.

Submission Requirements

There are specific requirements for the authorship, rights and accessibility of works:

Authorship

  • At least one author of the work must be a UB faculty member, staff or student.
  • You must have created or published the definitive version of the work while at UB.

Rights

  • You must grant the UB Libraries a non-exclusive right to reproduce and distribute your work online.
  • You are responsible for securing permissions for any third-party materials and for complying with copyright law.
  • If the work has been published elsewhere, you must comply with your publishing agreement or contract and your publisher’s sharing policies.

Accessibility

All files must meet the standards of the university’s Electronic and Information Technology Accessibility Policy before submission. This policy ensures that people with disabilities can access and read your work with assistive technologies, such as screen readers.

Find resources and guidance for Creating Accessible Content on the Accessibility at UB website.

Public Access

UBIR is committed to open access. New submissions are publicly available online to anyone, anywhere.

For rare cases that require restricted access, contact the Head of Institutional Repository Services.

Long-Term Access

UBIR is not a digital preservation system. The UB Libraries strive to provide long-term access to deposited materials and make every effort to maintain that access. However, some file formats may become obsolete over time. For this reason, the UBIR team provides guidance on selecting appropriate file formats for submission.

Withdrawal and Takedown

The UB Libraries may withdraw materials from UBIR when necessary.

If a work in UBIR infringes your copyright, you may submit a takedown request according to the Notice and Takedown Policy.

Funder Open Access Mandates

UBIR supports compliance with open access mandates from funding agencies. UBIR staff will assist you in ensuring that your work meets funder requirements.